


Too Close to the Stars

by rynling



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: F/M, Hypothetical Backstory, Spoony Headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-05
Packaged: 2018-03-10 14:58:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3294671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rynling/pseuds/rynling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Setzer and Daryl live an easy and carefree life until their past catches up to them. Hypothetical backstory on where they came from, how they flew, and why they fell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Close to the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [deadcellredux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadcellredux/gifts).



> This was written for a prompt on [the 2014 Chocobo Races](http://ff-exchange.dreamwidth.org/tag/chocobo+races+2014) requesting a bit of backstory on how Setzer and Daryl met. The plot germ that inspired me was how Setzer declines to join your party when you're infiltrating the Magitek Research Facility, but he's _right there_ when you're fleeing Vector. What was he avoiding, and how is he so knowledgeable about the city's layout?

For the two young engineers and daredevil pilots, life in the imperial capital was perfect. 

Setzer blew into Vector from parts unknown, covered in a distressing number of scars for such a young child. He weaseled his way out of the military academy and apprenticed himself directly to one on the city's weapons research facilities. He quickly took on the dry accent and clipped intonations of the southern continent as he cultivated his penchant for number juggling and games of chance, hustling soldiers out of their stipends. By the time he was nineteen, he commanded a considerable salary of his own as the head of a unit at the aircraft development headquarters. The Empire held his patents but compensated him for his efforts by supplying his materials. If there was anything to be flown, he flew it. 

Daryl was the only daughter of a wealthy family in the ancient port town of Nikeah, and every aspect of her upbringing reflected taste and good breeding. Nevertheless, she openly flouted her disdain of the family business and bullied her way into the hallowed halls of the city's university, where she burned her way through degrees and was widely hailed as the most brilliant mechanist of the day. She enjoyed toying with men and women both and left a trail of lovers in her wake. At nineteen years old, she packed her bags and jumped on a ship to Albrook before storming into Vector like a whirlwind. If there was anything to be made, she could make it. 

Setzer and Daryl found each other quickly and shared cigarettes and dreams of flight. Bottles of wine went down as an incredible hangar went up in a vacant lot on the outskirts of Vector's sprawling industrial district. The pair hand-picked a staff that grew ever larger as more funding found its way to them. Word came that even the Emperor himself was interested in their project. One day the walls of the hangar were rolled away and a prototype airship rose into the air, briefly, before crashing spectacularly to the ground. The debris was studied, and notes were taken. 

Setzer and Daryl toasted each other and decided to make another attempt on a larger scale. 

A late night staff meeting left Setzer and Daryl alone in a room filled with full ashtrays and empty glasses. A losing hand of an impromptu poker game found Daryl straddling Setzer's lap, and it was only natural that her lips should meet his. Desire was generated as soon as it was satiated. The days were heady and the nights were long. It seemed that anything was possible, and soon enough, two airships soared through the skies over Vector. 

For the two young engineers and daredevil pilots, life in the imperial capital was perfect – almost too perfect. 

The technology they thrust into existence still had its problems, but it was functional enough to be reliably duplicated. Within days of the launch of one and then another airship, a troubling rumor came to the attention of the pair through the associates who shared their interests and the partners who shared their beds. Now that the Empire had two airships, it had no need for the two headstrong pilots, who were attracting far too much attention. Journalistic interest and offers of venture capital were arriving from all corners of the globe, and the Empire had secrets that needed to be guarded.

Setzer and Daryl sensed the changing tides of their fortunes. Now wealthy beyond imagining, they fled north across the ocean, taking their staff and their blueprints with them. The arms of the Empire were long, but surely they could not reach the skies. Why worry about problems half a world away when there are parties, and roulette tables, and opera, and the intoxicating thrill of flight? Not content to rest on their laurels, the two engineers competed to see which of them could make an airship fly faster and higher. 

After one particularly intense overhaul to her vessel's engines, Daryl taunted Setzer, "I'll be known as the woman who flew closest to the stars!" And perhaps she had indeed climbed higher than any human ever dreamed could be possible, but the moment before her ship disappeared from sight through the clouds was the last that anyone saw it. 

Almost a full year later, the wreckage of the Falcon was found close to the shore of the far northwest Figaro outpost of Kohlingen. Along with the remaining members of his former staff, Setzer dredged the ship from the water and, in repairing it, found that its primary engine had been tampered with in a suspiciously clumsy manner. Setzer jumped to the obvious conclusion, but he was still too shocked by the loss of his friend to take any sort of action. The news coming from the southern continent was dire, and it was far easier to float above the world and its cares. 

When anyone mentioned Vector, he was careful to neither confirm nor deny his former life. His accent would always betray his association with the imperial capital, but he maintained an impenetrable nonchalance regarding the Empire. It was, he always said, "bad for business," and risking his life to defy it was not a gamble he was ready to make. Still, he kept watch from afar, waiting for something that could even the odds in his favor.


End file.
